Machine for cutting up potatoes for planting



J. L. SCHROEDER.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING UP POTATOES FDR PLANTING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17. 1919.

1,337,968. I Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Jsse L. 5c]; 7"066/673 M aha/MW Zrls fiffa rneys- J. L. SCHROEDER.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING UP POTATOES FOR PLANTING. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17.1919.

1,337,968.. Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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7711s Filer/h ys.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- J. L. SC-HROEDER.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING UP POTATOES FOR PLANTI'NG. APPLICATION FILED MAR.17. 1919.

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J. L. SCHROEDER.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING UP POTATOES FOR PLANTING. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I71I919.

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Patented Apr. 20, 1920;

4- SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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yIII-II 70672 for: Jesse L. Sclzroeder. 3,01% W/ JESSE LYLE SCI-IROEDER,

OF ERIE, NORTH DAKOTA.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING UP POTATOES FOR PLANTING.

- To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Jessa LYLE Sermonnnu, acitizen of the United States, residing .at Erie in the county of Cassand State of North bakota, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Cutting Up Potatoes for Planting, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for cutting up potatoes for plantingand has for its object to provide a mechanism which will take thepotatoes one by one from a hopper and convey them to a suitablereceiving member and position the potatoes endwise in the receivingmember where the. will be automatically subjected to the action of aplunger, whereby the potatoes will be cut into four pieces lengthwise,if of moderate size, or into eight pieces, if they exceed a certainlength, by two lengthwise cuts and one transverse cut.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear inconnection with the detailed description thereof and the novel featuresembodied in my inventive idea are particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings which illustrate the application of my invention in oneform,-

Figure 1. is a view in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinalvertical section. Fig. 3 is a view in cross section on line 33 of Fig. 2looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan viewdrawn on an enlarged scale. "Fig. 5 is a detail view showing theoperation of the device for removing potatoes from the picker arms. Fig.6 is a face view of the ejecting device. Fig. 7 is a sectional detailshowing the device operated to cut a moderate size potato. Fig. 8 is asectional detail showing the device operated to cut a large potato. Fig.9 is a sectional detail showing the device in operation to retract thetransverse cutter.

Referring to the particular construction shown in the drawings, theframe of the machine comprises four corner posts 10 heldtogether bylongitudinal upper and lower bars 12 and 14, cross bars 16 and 18,vertical bars 20, intermediate longitudinal bars 22 and 24, and inclinedbars 26. These bars may be arranged in such position as to constitutesupports for the various operating parts of the machine. Supported atthe rear of the frame, as best shown in Fig. 2, is a hopper 28 forreceiving the'uncut potatoes, which hopper is preferably in the upperpor- V Specification of Letters Patent.

roller is provided with a ratchet wheel 42 Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Application filed March 17, 1919. Serial No. 288,156.

tion of a box like member having an inclined partition 30 constitutingthe bottom of the hopper and leading to an opening 32. P0- tatoes whichare placed in the hopper g1. avi tate to the opening 32 and rest upon aroller 34, preferably of polygonal shape and rotatable in the directionof the arrow, to feed the potatoes forwardly into a s ace or chamber35in the lower portion 0 the box like member, and having an inclinedbottom 3 which is hollowed out at 38 for a purpose which will presentlappear. The roller 34 is secured to a sha t 40 and the end of thesecured thereto which at certain times is adapted to be engaged by anoscillating pawl 44 pivoted at its lower end .toan arm 46 secured to arock shaft 48 which also has secured to it an arm 50 connected by a rod52 to a crank arm 54 on a shaft 56 to which is secured a sprocket wheel58 driven in a manner to be described later. The pawl 44 rests upon apin 60 and may be held in engagement with the pin by a spring 62 locatedat the pivot between the end of the pawl and the arm 46. The pin 60 ismounted on the upper portion of an arm 64 loosely mounted at its middleportion upon the shaft 48. The lower end of this arm is connected by alink 66 to a lever 68 pivoted to the frame at 70. A spring 72 tends tourge the upper end of the lever 68 toward the rear carrying with it aconnecting member which has a pin 74 slidable in a slot formed by astrip 76 secured to the lever 68. The connecting member ust mentionedmay be conveniently constructed with forks 78 and these forks aresecured to a trip member consisting of two plates 80 spaced apart asshown in Fig. 3. The plates-80 form the front walls of the chamber 35and, as will appear particularly from Figs. 1 and'2, when a number ofpotatoes are resting against the plates 80, the upper end of the arm 64,through the connections just described, is drawn to the right and thepin lifts the pawl 44 and prevents it fromengaging the ratchet wheel 42.

owever, when there is not sufiicient weight of potatoes against theplates 80 to force them rearwardly a ainst the tension of the spring 72then t e latter operates through the lever 68 and the link 66 to swingthe upper end of the arm 64 to the left as shown in Fig. 1,thus'allowing the oscillating pawl 44 to engage the ratchet feed roller34 ceases.

-i1iay be loosely mounted on the shaft 84 as a pivot. The picker a riiison their outer edges are provided with points 88 which penetrate andretain a potato as the picker arms rotate past the hollowed out space 38of the inclined bottom 36. each constructed, as best shown in F1g. 5,having a member 90 pivoted at 92 to the side thereof and a thin metalstrip 94 is secured to the pivoted member 90. This strip toward thecenter from the pivot 92 does not extend over the picker arm but beyondthe pivot is turned as shown in Fig. 6 so as to extend over the front ofthe picker arm between the points 88. The strip 94 normally lies fiatagainst the face of the pickedarni but when the latter reaches theposition shown in Fig. 2 the inner end of the pivoted member strikes atrip 96 which throws the strip 94 into the position shown in Fig. 5.thus pushing the potato ofi the points.

' The trip 96 may be held in place by having a portion surrounding theshaft 84 and by the brace 98 extending, froma chute 100. which has aninclined bottom 102 provided 'with a slot to permit passage of thepicker arms. The chute delivers the potatoes to a.

cutting box 104 which is square in cross section and is provided on itsinterior with an upper set of fingers 106 pivoted to the top of the box,the lower ends of the fingers being free and normally urged inwardly bysprings 108 which surround rods 110 attached to the fingers and passingoutside the box for application of the springs, as best shown in Fig. 7.The lower set of fingers 112 is pivoted at the upper ends to theinterior of the box intermediate the length thereof, and these fingershave'their lower free ends normally urged inwardy by springs 114surrounding rods 116 arranged in the same manner as the rods 110. Thefingers 106 serve to center the potatoes end- Wise above a pair ofcrossed cutting knives secured within the cutting box. Operating abovethe cutting blades is a plunger 120 which slides in ways 122 secured tothe frame. The plunger is connected by a pitman 124 to a crank arm 126formed on a shaft 128 to which is secured a sprocket wheel 130 while apulley 132 is also secured to this shaft for driving the machine bypower from a belt 134. It is obvious, however, that the machine may beoperated by The picker arms are,

hand, if desired. A sprocket chain 136 passes over the sprockets 130,86, and 58 to operate the parts previously described and a tightener 138is adjustablysecured to the frame member 20 so as to engage the chainand take up the slack. The plunger 120 on its downward movemei'itengages the potato which has just been delivered to the cutting box sothat'it is'forced lengthwise upon the knives 118 \Vlli(3litil1l3 it intoquarters; If the potato exceeds a certain length it is also cuttransversely to form eight pieces by the mechanism now to be described.A trip member 140 has a fiat portion located below the center of thecutting box and this trip member is pivoted upon a rod 142 mounted inthe frame. Secured to the rear end of the trip member is a depending rodwhich v passes through an arm 144 also pivoted on the rod 142. Upon thedepending rod between the arm 144 and a nut 146, on the end of this rodis a coil spring 148 which produces a yielding connection between thearm and the trip member. The rear portion of the arm 144 has an upwardlyconcave curve at 150. Slidably mounted in ways 152 on the frame is aknife blade 154, the rear portion of which on its upper side has adovetail projection 156. If the potato which has been forced over thecutters 118 is sufficiently long to depress the trip 140. the rear endthereof is lifted, as shown in Fig. 8. thereby causing the curved member150 to .lift the knife blade so that the projection 156 is engaged by adovetail projection 158 on the lower side of, a slide 160 which isconstantly reciprocated by a pitman 162 operated by a crank arm 164 withwhich the gers 112. The transverse cutting is done while the plunger 120is moving upwardly and the four upper pieces are ejected when theplunger forces down another potato through the cutting box. In the caseof mbderate size potatoes the four pieces into which the potato is cutlongitudinally are held by the fingers 112 until the succeeding potatopushes them down out of the grasp of the fingers whereupon the piecesfall into a receptacle 166. As will be appar-. ent from Fig. 7 thepieces of cut potato are released and fall apart before they'have anopportunity to operate the trip 140 and hence the knife blade is notoperated except in case that the potato being cut is sufficiently longto .cause such operation. Fig.

18 shows how the knife blade is operated to tail projection 168 on thelower portion of the slide 160.

I have described my machine as a single machine but it is obvious thatany desired number of feeding and cutting devices may be mounted in oneframe and operated in unison as a multiple machine.

The operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understoodfrom the foregoing description. Potatoes which are to be used as seedpotatoes for planting are placed in the hopper 28 from which they arefed at times, according to the supply in the chamber 35, by theoperation of the feed roller 34 which operates under the control of thetrip mechanism described to maintain a suitable supply of potatoes inposition to be picked up one at a time by the picker mechanism fordelivery to the cutting mechanism. The concave bottom of the chamber 85is preferably formed on a curve having the axis of rotation. of thepicker arms as a center. On account of this construction the ends of thepicker arms closely follow this curve while passing through the supplyof potatoes in the chamber, thus insuring that a' potato shall beengaged by and retained upon the points of the picker arms each timethat they pass over the concave bottom. The cutting mechanism operatesin such a manner as to insure that each piece cut from the potato shallhave a sufiicient number of eyes for use in planting. The mechanismwhereby large potatoes are cut into more pieces than are the smallerpotatoes is an important feature of my invention.

I claim:

1. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising means for deliveringthe potatoes one at a time from a supply regardless of size, means forlongitudinally. cutting the potatoes as delivered, and a reciprocatingknife blade for also transversely cutting the large potatoes.

2. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising a cutting box,stationary knives in said cutting box, means for delivering potatoes oneat a time to said cutting box, a set of spring pressed fingers in saidcut-. ting box arranged to cause the potatoes to assume a longitudinalposition therein, a plunger for forcing the potatoes upon said knives,means gfor reciprocating said plunger, a second set of spring pressedfingers in said cutting box arranged to hold the pieces of the potatowhich has just been cut, a movable. knife blade and means for causingsaid knife blade to move and cut, transversely the pieces of longpotatoes held by said second set of fingers.

3. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising a cutting box,stationary knives in said cutting box, means for causing the potatoes toassume a longitudinal position in the said box, means for forcingpotatoes upon said knives to cut them longitudinally, means in saidcutting box for holding the pieces of the potato which has just beencut, a movable knife blade, and a trip device for causing said knifeblade to move and cut transversely the pieces of long potatoes which areheld by said holding means.

4. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising a cutting box,stationary knives in said cutting box, means for causing the potatoes toassume a longitudinal position in said box, means for forcing potatoesupon said knives to cut them longitudinally, means in said cutting boxfor holding the pieces. of the potato which have just been cut, amovable knife blade, a reciprocating member, and a trip device operableby long potatoes to cause said reciprocating member and said knife bladeto move together to cut transversely the pieces of long potatoes whichare heldby said holding means.

5. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising a cutting box,stationary knives in said cutting box, a set of spring pressed fingersin said cutting box arranged to cause the potatoes to assume alongitudinal position therein, a plunger for forcing the potatoes uponsaid knives, means for reciprocating said plunger, a second set ofspring pressed fingers in said cutting box arranged to hold the piecesof the potato which has just been cut, a movable knife blade having aprojection thereon, a reciprocating member having two projectionsthereon, and a trip device operable by long potatoes to cause one of theprojections on said reciprocating member. to engage the projection onsaid knife blade and move the latter to cut transversely the pieces oflong potatoes which are held by said second set of fingers, the other ofthe projections on said reciprocating member being adapted to engage theprojection on said knife blade upon reverse movement of saidreciprocating member to thereby retract said cutting blade.

6. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising a hopper, a feedroller underneath said hopper, a chamber for receiving potatoes fromsaid feed roller, a trip devicev associated with said chamber, means forrotating said feed roller at certain times, connections between saidrotating means and said trip device whereby said feed roller is operatedwhen the supply ofpotatoes in said chamber diminishes and whereby saidfeed roller remains idle when the supply is replenished, means fordelivering potatoes one at a time from the supply in said chamber, andmeans for cutting the potatoes as delivered.

7. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising a hopper, a feeiroller underneath said hopper, a chamber for receiving lating pawl, andsaid trip device whereby said pawl will potatoes from said feed roller,a trip device associated with said chamber, a ratchet wheel secured tosaid feed roller, an oscilflmneetions between said pawl engage saidratchet wheel when the supply of potatoes in said chamber diminishesand. whereby said pawl is disengaged from said ratchet wheel when thesupply is replenished, means for delivering potatoes one at a time fromthe supply in said chamber, and means for cutting the potatoes asdelivered.

8. A machine for cutting seed potatoes comprising a cutting box,stationary knives in said cutting box, a set of spring pressed fingersin said cutting box arranged to cause the potatoes to assume alongitudinal position therein, means for forcing the potatoes upon saidknives, a second set of spring pressed fingers in said cutting boxarranged to hold the pieces of potatoes after longitudinal cutting, amovable knife blade, and. means for causing said knife blade to move andcut transversely the pieces of long potatoes which are held by saidsecond set of fingers.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

JESSE LYLE SGHROEDER.

